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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24363010">A Shadow of a Doubt</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneTheNya/pseuds/JaneTheNya'>JaneTheNya</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:20:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>636</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24363010</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneTheNya/pseuds/JaneTheNya</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>I'll be honest with you, I don't know where this one came from. I was just playing Sonic Forces and the fact that Shadow is a character with a lot of depth that never really gets treated as such bothered me, and I've always hated how he joined G.U.N. for no good reason, so I wanted to give him one that made some sense. This is more of a short little proof of concept for my ideas about his character.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Shadow of a Doubt</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shadow paced back and forth through the metallic hallway, fingers frustratedly tapping on his wrists. His eyes narrowed each time he turned around and got a momentary glance at the G.U.N. logo plastered on the wall.<br/>His time as government enemy number one, and his natural abilities, had given him a sense of hyper-awareness, and certainly the telltale click-clack of heels walking across metal wouldn’t catch him off guard.<br/>“Rouge,” he declared, not turning around. “What do you want?”<br/>More of that click-clack, and at this point not seeing her was bothering him, and he turned around. There was a strange look on her face, some kind of sad smile… as she approached, she lifted her hand cautiously, and he gave a nod. she placed it on his shoulder.<br/>“Hey, listen, I just wanted to ask…” she began, looking away shyly. “Why… why did you join this organization, after everything that happened?”<br/>His eyes widened, suppressing that same flashback he’d had thousands of times. He shook his head, shaking hands balling into fists.<br/>“Sonic… taught me that there was more to the world than I understood,” he began, not daring to meet Rouge’s gaze, those gentle eyes that reminded him too much of her.<br/>“I thought maybe these people were the same way. They were… a part of the government, right? They were supposed to do good. Maybe I simply… didn’t understand.”<br/>Rouge gave a quick chuckle before suppressing it. She didn’t mean to mock Shadow’s answer, it was just so very… him. Doubtful, naive, strangely optimistic… she smiled as she took her hand from his shoulder to hold his shaking hands in hers.<br/>“I can tell you’ve still been looking for proof that they are. Even in the way they treat you. But… I’ll be honest with you, hon, I don’t think you’ll find it.”<br/>He shook his head, seemingly already knowing she was right.<br/>“What about you, then? Why would you join this place?” he asked, a clear deflection.<br/>“Oh, Shadow. I’m a treasure hunter. That’s what I do. I steal things for bad people all the time, why not join the bad people with all the military and protection I could ask for?”<br/>She gave another laugh. “But don’t get it twisted. I do care about you. You’re like… I dunno, family. I wouldn’t want to see you suffer here if you weren’t happy with it. If you want me to leave and come with you, say the word. I’ve got no attachment to this place.”<br/>At last Shadow raised his head, taking another glance at the logo on the wall, filled with a swirl of emotions, anger and frustration and betrayal and disappointment and shallow hope. He shook his head, and looked to his feet.<br/>“This whole morality thing is harder than you gave it credit for, huh?” she teased.<br/>“Yeah…” he finally answered. “I thought being the ultimate life form, the strongest in the universe, meant nothing would be a problem for me. And maybe that’s true when it comes to crushing Eggman’s bots, but it’s not so true when I have to make… decisions.”<br/>Silence. “I don’t want the whole world to be my enemy again. I don’t want to hurt the people Maria loved.”<br/>Rouge’s grip on his hand tightened, and he finally met her eyes.<br/>“That won’t happen again. If these people become your enemy, I’ll stand by you. Sonic will, too. He’s not exactly a fan of these guys either, y’know.”<br/>He gave a weak smile.<br/>At last, satisfied, Rouge let go of his hand and turned to leave, stopping at the door.<br/>“The world does need heroes, Shadow. And these guys just aren’t doing the job.”<br/>She turned to him, and gave a wink.<br/>“I might not be better than that, but you are.”</p>
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